Squeak,
I think we all respect your views, but it seems you want an 'all in one studio' built into an arranger keyboard ?

Please realize 90% of arranger owners will never use the multitrack feature in these machines. Most of them are home users that play for fun at home (!).
For example : I myself never used the 'digital-recorder' (= midi-sequencer) on any of my arrangers.

I consider the harddisk-recorder to be a 'nice to have' and not as a 'must have' .... remember we talk about an arranger aren't we ?

In fact, features as MP3-player, midifile-player, vocalizers have nothing to do with an arranger... but 'nice to haves' IMHO.

I can understand Yamaha's policy to build what the majority of the customers want/need.

Perhaps we should start a poll with the following questions :

Do you use the midi-sequencer ? (never/seldom/often/always)

Would you use an 8-track recorder when available ? (never/seldom/often/always)

Can you 'live' with only 5 octaves ?
(no/yes)

Would you pay 200 bucks more for an arranger when an 8-track was in it? (yes/no)

Interesting figures I recnetly heard :
The US and Canada represent only 10% of the total sales of arrangers worldwide